Cochlear implant users rely on the uptime and availability of their cochlear implant system hardware in order to maintain their sense of hearing. However, the reliability of a user's external cochlear implant system hardware, such as a sound processor, may be limited. For example, a sound processor may be subject to damage, theft, or loss. As a result, it may be desirable for a cochlear implant user to keep a backup sound processor that can be used in place of his or her primary sound processor in the event that the primary sound processor becomes inoperable or otherwise unavailable. However, doing so can be prohibitively costly, inconvenient, and/or impractical for many cochlear implant users.
For example, some centers (e.g. schools) serve a significant population of cochlear implant users, each of whom may, at times, benefit from the use of a backup sound processor. However, because the use of a backup processor is intermittent for any given user, maintaining a separate backup processor for each user is an inefficient use of resources. Hence, it would be desirable for such a center to maintain a common backup sound processor that may be shared among all of the users at the center. Unfortunately, because sound processors are conventionally programmed for only one user, personnel at the center would have to reprogram the backup sound processor each time it is to be used with a different user. This requires specialized programming hardware, time, and expertise, thus making it difficult for a single backup sound processor to be effectively shared between multiple users.